Page 114 of Deadly Strain

They moved forward with more caution and took out two more sentries before having to move down into the rocky gullies in search of the place the road led to.

There was a cave with a mouth about three men wide and two high. Four men, armed with Soviet-made rifles, manned the opening. None of them appeared to be wearing night-vision equipment.

Sharp flashed a signal at Smoke, who moved away slightly, then called out for help in Dari saying he’d twisted his ankle.

Sharp settled into his half-crouch shooting position and found the four in his scope. They were a little too far apart.

The men guarding the cave gathered together, talking about what their response should be, whether one of them should investigate or if two should go.

Sharp couldn’t have asked for a better scenario. He let his breath out and fired.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Dead.

Behind him, Grace sucked in a breath.

He waited for her to say or do something to berate him for shooting the men, but nothing came. No one yelled or moved.

A second later, he and his men were on the move, Grace tucked in behind him. Like she’d been when they’d hightailed it to the hills to hide after the helicopter crash. Her breath came in short pants, just loud enough for him to hear. Just loud enough for him to know exactly where she was, even though all his attention appeared to be in front of him.

They moved like a mist, low to the ground in a smooth rush that suddenly contracted and circled the cave’s entrance.

Smoke took point, advancing into the cave. Hernandez followed. He gave the all-clear hand signal and Sharp went in with Grace so close he could feel her body heat penetrating his clothing and armor.

Twenty feet in, voices became audible. Men, speaking in Dari.

Smoke slowed their forward momentum, giving everyone enough time to stay in close formation. Darkness faded as gas lights appeared overhead.

Two men suddenly came toward them carrying a crate, headed toward the cave’s exit. Smoke let them pass.

Hernandez didn’t. He and Clark grabbed a man each and thrust knives into the backs of their skulls. They dropped like dead fish onto the ground.

Smoke and Sharp caught the crate before it could crash on the rocky floor of the cave. They moved it to one wall and went to pry the lid off, but it wasn’t nailed down.

Grenade launchers.

Sharp put his mouth to Grace’s ear. “Could the spores be put into a grenade and launched without risk to the person doing the launching?”

“I doubt it, but I don’t think that would stop him. Them. Whoever.”

He squeezed her shoulder to show his agreement. The asshole behind this insanity didn’t give a shit about anyone. Not even himself.

That made him unpredictable. Deadly.

His gut reaction was to grab Grace and get her the hell out of there, but he couldn’t do that and not damage the trust he’d built with her.

Trust he needed more than he needed to wrap her in plastic Bubble Wrap and hide her away from the world.

“We’re looking for weapons and bad guys,” he said almost soundlessly in her ear. “You look for anything that could be used as a spore deployment device.”

She nodded.